Word to the Wise
Monday, April 26, 2021 - 4th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 11:1-18 and John 10:1-10 or, in Year A, John 10:11-18,353]"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leaders them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers......Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." [John]
The Good Shepherd discourse made an appearance on Sunday but the daily scriptures are on a different schedule and so the discourse shows up again today. Three different aspects of the image are presented. First, Jesus is the true shepherd. Second, Jesus is the gate! Third, Jesus is the distinctive voice of truth and life. All of this is based on the unique system of a common corral in a village where all the flocks are placed at the end of the day. The next day, each shepherd comes to the gate and makes his own call and only his sheep separate out and follow him! It's a bit like a mom or dad calling into a crowd of kids and only their own kids respond. Or like that summer camp I went to as a kid where one learned to listen for the distinctive whistle sound from the counselor assigned to each group! The whole purpose of the image is then summed up in the last line, which often appears in framed cross-stitched form on walls: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
Tomorrow (Tuesday), the importance of hearing Jesus' voice and following him will be emphasized in a more conflictual way. For now, it is the relationship of the shepherd and sheep, a kind of spiritual "symbiotic" relationship, that is offered to us. Sheep and shepherd depend on one another and each sheep is important. In the Gospel According to Luke, Jesus notes how a shepherd will go looking for one lost sheep out of a hundred. (Luke 15:1-5). Abundant life is ours if we remain focused on the voice of the true shepherd. AMEN
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